Princeton University Athletics
Just Win, Baby
June 21, 2000 | General
June 21, 2000
The first 14 made the second 14 simple.
The third 14? That was a whole different story.
Hey, sometimes good things come in 14s.
Princeton won 14 Ivy League championships in the 1999-2000 school year. Those 14 titles--which just happened to be the most by any school in any year in Ivy League history--enabled Princeton to roll to the Ivy League's unofficial all-sports championship for the 14th straight year.
Then there was the matter of a national championship. Princeton had sports like men's cross country and fencing reach national competitions, and down the road sports like women's squash and men's and women's lacrosse finished as national runners-up.
Still, Princeton had not had a national champion until the final day of the athletic calendar, when the women's lightweight crew rolled to its second straight national crown with a first place finish in the grand final at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on the Cooper River.
The victory gave Princeton at least one national championship team for each of the last, you guessed it, 14 years.
"[Assistant Director of Athletics] Mike Cross told me prior to IRAs that the athletic department was looking to the rowing teams to continue the streak of national championships, and it stayed in the back of my mind," said lightweight women's coach Heather Smith. "I did not talk to my team about the streak. They felt enough pressure as defending champs and had sufficient motivation to win. The rowers learned that they kept the streak alive after the race from parents and fans who were very excited and proud, and of course the team is pleased that their victory has significance beyond the boathouse and the rowing community."
The lightweight women led from start to finish in the final, taking a small lead through the first 1000 meters. The Tigers turned it up through the middle of the 2,000-meter course to build a five-seat lead. The Tigers maintained at least a two-seat lead for the majority of the race and a final push gave Princeton a five-seat victory with a winning time of 7:03.5. Villanova followed with a time of 7:07.5 and Wisconsin, who defeated Princeton during the regular season by two seconds, took third in 7:12.4.
"We had a long break between the Eastern Sprints and the national championships, and it was a challenge to keep momentum and to continue gaining speed between the two regattas," Smith said. "Based on the results, I would say we were successful. The boat impressed me by rowing aggressively, confidently, and according to the race plan. I was pleased to have 10 entries in the lightweight women's event and hope to see even more competitive racing in the future. This year, the final turned into a 3 boat race between Wisconsin, Villanova and Princeton. Next year I would like to see Brown right alongside us, and maybe some of the crew from the west coast."
The women's lightweight crew championship was a nice topping for a year of excellence.
Princeton won four Ivy League championships in the fall and then five each in the winter and spring. The 14 titles broke the old league record of 12, which both Harvard and Princeton each previously did twice.
Princeton had seven other teams finish second in their league race, giving the Tigers first or second in 21 of the 33 Ivy sports. Brown had the second highest number of league champions with seven.
In addition, Princeton's non-Ivy League sports also had outstanding years. The lightweight women's crew won the Eastern Sprints title in addition to its national crown, and the women's water polo team won the Eastern and ECAC titles en route to an eighth-place national finish. The men's water polo team won its divisional title as well.
What made Princeton's run of Ivy titles even more impressive was the diversity of sports to win crowns. There were the traditional champions, such as the sixth straight league title in men's lacrosse and a third straight "Triple Crown" of Heptagonal titles in men's cross country and indoor and outdoor track. The field hockey team earned a share of the league title, making it six straight championship seasons as well.
On the other hand, the men's squash team won its first outright Ivy title since 1982, and that was nothing compared to the men's soccer team, which took home the outright trophy for the first time since 1961. Women's swimming returned to the top of the league standings for the first time since 1995, and men's golf and baseball each won their first title since 1996.
The men's and women's fencing teams also won Ivy championships.
Princeton produced three individual national champions, including both national champions in squash in Peter Yik and Julia Beaver. Eva Petschnegg was the national epee champion in women's fencing.
Yik, track's John Mack and lacrosse's Josh Sims shared the William Winston Roper Trophy as the outstanding senior male athletes. Blair Irwin, Beaver's teammate in squash, shared the C. Otto von Kienbusch Award as the top senior male athlete with water polo's Goga Vukmirovic.
Sims and women's soccer player Susan Rea were named first-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-Americas. Princeton also had 11 first-team All-Americas, five Ivy League Players of the Year and four Ivy League Rookies of the Year.
Princeton also said goodbye to three of its greatest coaches ever. David Benjamin retired after 26 seasons of leading Princeton to national prominence in men's tennis. Cindy Cohen, who won 12 Ivy softball titles in 18 seasons, left to become an athletic administrator at Rochester, while Don Cahoon, who took the Tiger hockey team to the national Top 10 and its first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament, became the head coach at UMass.